VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski continued the dispute with Zoran Zaev’s brother Vice Zaev over the latest bombshell revelations that Vice was extorting money from a coal mining company that won a state contract. Mickoski pointed out that he never mentioned Vice Zaev by name in his press briefing, but noted that a person named “Vice N.” is mentioned in the testimony of the owner of the company who was being pressured to give up his business.

I never clearly pointed that the scandal over the extortion of the Bitola based company involves businessman Vice Zaev, the brother of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. The prosecutor’s report includes the name “Vice N.”. I don’t know why the brother of the Prime Minister jumped to the conclusion that it is him and I don’t know why all the insults he poured at me, Mickoski said, tongue in cheek.

The opposition party today submitted the material it as to the state prosecutor’s office. The report came out of the organized crime prosecutor’s office, where it was apparently edited to remove the mention of Vice Zaev, even though the owner of the Rubiton company clearly alludes to him. VMRO member of Parliament Mile Lefkov held a press conference to call for an investigation against Vice Zaev, several of his business partners who were involved in the scandal, but also against top police officials Oliver Spasovski and Laze Velkovski, who are suspected of forging the report.